|
The political season is upon us. In addition to the national conventions – this week the Democrats, next week the Republicans – we have our state and local elections, the ones we, as a local weekly newspaper will concentrate upon. And so, as we await round one – the state convention in September, we’d like to set out a few suggestions for what we would like to see from you, the candidates.
Whether you are running for the state legislature, town council or school committee, we want specifics on what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. Generalized platitudes are not enough. Sayings like “I won’t be a ghost,” or “I put principles before politics,” or “I will be a responsive lawmaker.” Such statements sound fine, but they don't mean anything. Tell us what you plan to do make our schools, roads, environment and business climate better one year from now, and how you think those goals can be met. And if you tell us something like ‘“Our children need more programs and equipment to meet the challenges of the future,” or “our infrastructure needs modernizing,” and then proceed to tell us these goals need to be met “without further burdening our already-maxed-out taxpayers,” we will you call you are: A clueless sloganeer. You can’t have it both ways. Everything costs money and telling us you will solve our problems by pursuing grants that don’t exist or state funds that aren’t there, know this: We have already found out there is no Easter Bunny. We want – and deserve – the truth. We need to be told the hand in our back pocket is there so we can pay for the best goods and services we can get for our money. We know its not there to make a deposit to our bankroll. We want a platform from each of you; with well-thought-out details and options for the chalenges we face. We don’t want snappy one-liners, we want substantive and well-conceived ideals and ideas delivered succinctly. So spare us the usual empty platitudes, anyone who does not list ‘sociopath’ on his or her bio sheet believes in world peace, renewable energy resources and would be delighted to hug a baby panda. Come to us with a list of problems you want to solve and a plan to solve them. Bumper sticker sound bites are fine for getting sober, losing weight or drawing attention to social situations and diseases we need to battle, but we expect more out of our politicians. It’s time for them to deliver substantive solutions to the issues we face as a town, state and country or get out of the way for those who will deliver. |
